Curley Russell
Encyclopedia
Dillon "Curley" Russell was an American jazz
double-bassist, who played bass
on many bebop
recordings.
A member of the Tadd Dameron
Sextet, in his heyday he was in demand for his ability to play at the rapid tempos typical of bebop, and appears on several key recordings of the period. He left the music business in the late 1950s.
According to jazz historian Phil Schaap
the classic bebop tune "Donna Lee
", a contrafact on "Back Home Again In Indiana
", was named after Curley's daughter.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
double-bassist, who played bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
on many bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
recordings.
A member of the Tadd Dameron
Tadd Dameron
Tadley Ewing Peake "Tadd" Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romanticist" of the bop movement, while reviewer Scott Yanow writes that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".-Biography:Born in Cleveland,...
Sextet, in his heyday he was in demand for his ability to play at the rapid tempos typical of bebop, and appears on several key recordings of the period. He left the music business in the late 1950s.
According to jazz historian Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap is an American jazz disc jockey, historian, archivist and producer. He hosts a daily morning radio program on 89.9 FM New York, WKCR, the radio station of Columbia University, his alma mater, in New York City. The show, called Bird Flight, is broadcast from 8:20 am–9:30 am on weekdays...
the classic bebop tune "Donna Lee
Donna Lee
"Donna Lee" is a bebop jazz standard composed by Miles Davis. It was written in A flat and is based on the chord changes of the traditional jazz standard " Indiana". One unusual feature of the tune is that it begins with a half-bar rest...
", a contrafact on "Back Home Again In Indiana
Back Home Again in Indiana
" Indiana" is a song composed by Ballard MacDonald and James F. Hanley, first published in January of 1917. While it is not the official state song of the U.S...
", was named after Curley's daughter.
As sideman
- Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
: The Charlie Parker Story (Savoy RecordsSavoy RecordsSavoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
, 1945) - Charlie Parker: Memorial Vol. 1 (Savoy, 1947); Memorial Vol. 2 (Savoy 1947-48)
- Charlie Parker: Bird and Diz, (Verve, 1950)
- Fats NavarroFats NavarroTheodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, most notably Clifford Brown.-Life:Navarro was born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage...
: The Fabulous Fats Navarro (Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
, 1947–49) - Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
: The Real Birth of the Cool (Bandstand, 1948) - Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
: Early Stan (OJC, 1949–53) - George WallingtonGeorge WallingtonGeorge Wallington was a highly regarded American bop pianist and composer....
: Trio (Savoy, 1949–51); Trios (OJC, 1952–53) - Milt JacksonMilt JacksonMilton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
: Roll ’em Bags (Savoy, 1949–56) - Al CohnAl CohnAl Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
: Cohn's Tones (OJC, 1950–53) - Zoot SimsZoot SimsJohn Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
: Quartets (OJC, 1950) - Bud PowellBud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
: The Amazing Bud PowellThe Amazing Bud PowellThe Amazing Bud Powell, also called The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1, is a 1951 album by jazz pianist Bud Powell. It is part of a loosely connected series with the 1953 companion The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2 and the 1957 Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell , all released on Blue Note. The album details two...
(Blue Note, 1951–53) - Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
: Thelonious Monk Trio/Blue Monk (Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
, 1952–54); MONK (OJC, 1953–54) - Art BlakeyArt BlakeyArthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
: A Night at Birdland Vol. 1A Night at Birdland Vol. 1A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 is a 1954 release by jazz artist Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records as a 10" LP and then as a 12" LP containing material from the third 10" album...
(Blue Note, 1954) - Art BlakeyArt BlakeyArthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
: A Night at Birdland Vol. 2A Night at Birdland Vol. 2A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 is a 1954 release by jazz drummer Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records as BLP 5038 and two years later as BLP 1521 incorporating material from the third 10" release...
(Blue Note, 1954) - Art BlakeyArt BlakeyArthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
: A Night at Birdland Vol. 3A Night at Birdland Vol. 3A Night at Birdland Vol. 3 is a 1954 jazz 10" LP release by Art Blakey Quintet for Blue Note Records. It was originally the third in a series of albums recorded during a pre-Jazz Messengers date at Birdland Jazz Club with Blakey leading...
(Blue Note, 1954) - Jay Jay Johnson: The Birdlanders (Fresh Sound, 1954)
- Johnny GriffinJohnny GriffinJohn Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
: Introducing Johnny GriffinIntroducing Johnny GriffinIntroducing Johnny Griffin is the debut album by jazz tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. It was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack studio on April 17, 1956.- Track listing :# "Mildew" - 3:56# "Chicago Calling" - 5:38...
(Blue Note, 1957) - Cliff JordanClifford JordanClifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
& John GilmoreJohn Gilmore (musician)John Gilmore was an American jazz tenor saxophone player best-known for his long tenure as a member of Sun Ra's Arkestra...
: Blowing in from ChicagoBlowing in from ChicagoBlowing in from Chicago is an album by American jazz saxophonists Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore featuring performances recorded in 1957 and released on the Blue Note label...
(Blue Note, 1957)